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44man
11-18-2016, 09:39 AM
Lawn mower of course. Tire kept going flat so I bought a tube. I checked the whole inside of the tire.
Went flat again. I had bought the small tire changer from Harbor Freight but still a job.
I found a thorn this time. Had to have Carol go buy a tube patch kit, Darn rubber cement I had dried up again. How to keep the stuff from going bad once open escapes me.

762sultan
11-18-2016, 10:10 AM
I have had the same problem several times and have resorted to using a bottle of sealant that I bought at wally world. I think it was called "green slime." I have also tried "fix-a -flat that both pumps up the tire and seals it. That was on a yard cart and has held for 7 or 8 years. It solved my problems without breaking down the tire and wheel, which as you know is a lot of work. This would be difficult for me. My hands don't work as well as they used to.

Skinny
11-18-2016, 10:19 AM
If using the green slime stuff ( or any of it, really) it is important to make sure that once you put that stuff in the tire/tube to spin that tire on the axle as much/fast as you can for 5-10 mins at the least. This gives it a chance to disperse on the inside while drying, giving a uniform coat.

The instructions on the bottles should suggest this. Usually in terms of "Drive the vehicle for XXX miles."

Just a suggestion!

NSB
11-18-2016, 10:20 AM
I use Slime in all my ATV tires and lawn mower type tires. I've never had even one flat on my ATV using this stuff and I've driven over a million thorns...my property is covered in thorn bushes. I just drive right over them. Get some and end your problem.

Boaz
11-18-2016, 10:30 AM
Agree , use one with a polymer base . The ethylene glycerol base stuff will ruin the inner liner of the tire and rot the wheel up It's nothing but recycled antifreeze and ground paper ..

rancher1913
11-18-2016, 10:31 AM
store your cement can upside down, it will make a seal and prevents the rest from drying out. works with paint cans too.

mold maker
11-18-2016, 10:36 AM
I used Slime and when I eventually went to replace the worn out tire, the wheel was badly rusted from the slime. Had to replace the Pt # wheel at $38, + the tire. I had the same experience with an aluminum rim on wife's van.
It works for it's intended purpose but really cost in the long run.

44man
11-18-2016, 11:11 AM
I never had much luck with the slime.
My ATV has a tire that once I fill it, it will be good for months, then go flat. I have put it in a tub of water and can't find anything. Those are the ones that drive a guy nuts.
I have a 60 gal Ingersol compressor in the garage and a few hundred yards of hose but hate to use it for a tire. Even on rubber it shakes the house. I use a little 3 gal Harbor Freight one but I hate it too. Takes 1/2 Hour to fill and goes empty right quick. It will not operate an impact gun. Need serious air to pop a bead on too. Best way I found is one of those straps that you winch for a tree stand. Twisted rope sucks.
One day I was in the tire shop and they could not get a big truck tire bead on. They had a gun to discharge a lot of air fast, fail. Then spray stuff in to explode, fail. They put a torpedo heater on it to heat the rubber and a bunch of guys laid on the tire to get it on. I should have had a strap.

Kent Fowler
11-18-2016, 11:26 AM
I take all my lawnmower/cart wheels to a tractor tire dealer here who pumps in a fiber based sealant that has no water in it. It's cactus and mesquite thorn proof and doesn't rust holes in your steel wheels, like fix-a-flat and others.

Maven
11-18-2016, 12:12 PM
44man, If you want to use a tube and you get punctures, look for a self stick patch that [bi]cyclists use for such repairs. "Scabs" is one brand, but there are many others, and they really work and are inexpensive to boot! (Don't ask....!)

44man
11-18-2016, 12:30 PM
Good idea, never knew about them. Thank you.

Uncle Jimbo
11-18-2016, 12:41 PM
Here in my town Les Schwab will fix them for free. Don't even have to take it off. I just drive it on the trailer and take it down.
And as a side note, I always find a big box of old wheel weights on the trailer with the mower when I pick it back up. :bigsmyl2:

JonB_in_Glencoe
11-18-2016, 01:09 PM
I had a ATV tire that was a slow leaker, it'd take a couple months for it to lose enough air to be noticeable. It was that way from brand new. Within the first year, I brought it to the dealer (from where I bought it, it was under warranty), they brought it into the shop and looked at it for half an hour, then the service manager comes out to tell me, they couldn't find anything and that ATV tires do that sometime. So, I walked over to the main salesman, who sold me the ATV and I told him that I wanted a tire that wouldn't leak. He offered me the schuck and jive sales talk (I guess tires aren't warranted:( ), and now they have one more dissatisfied customer who won't buy from them. That was 2004.

Fast forward to last year, I decided to replace the tires (after a decade of filling the one tire every two months), as another tire started leaking...but much faster than the slow leaker. I brought it to a local independent small engine shop. I told them to give the machine a once over, replacing fluids, including brake fluid. They found two small thorns in the slow leaker (I suspect those thorns were in there since 2004), and they suspected the fast leaker was a bead issue, they sealed the bead. They said the tires are fine, plenty of tread, so they didn't need to be replaced. They "patched" the slow leaker. After I got the machine home, I found that slow leaker was now a fast leaker.

So, I stopped back into the shop, and told them. He gave me a bottle of "slime" and told me to try that. I did and the tire still failed. I called him and asked why he didn't use the "plug" method. He said that rarely works on ATV tires. So before I ordered new tires, I picked up a cheapo tire plug kit from harbor freight and plugged the two thorn holes. It's over a year now and I haven't needed to add air...till yesterday...while preping for the first winter storm(that is arriving as I type this), I put the snowplow on the ATV and checked the tires, the plugged tire did need some air.

So the short story is, I guess I should have just bought new tires last year, as sometimes the only fix for a troublesome tire, is to replace it.

William Yanda
11-18-2016, 02:38 PM
If you found one thorn, there are probably more. Blessed thorns, God put them here for a reason but I can't figure it out. Old time remedy was to use a section of an old tube as a liner between the tube and the tire. Cumbersome, but it beats taking the tire off and on every single time another thorn works its way through the tire to the tube.

Boolit_Head
11-18-2016, 02:48 PM
We had a John Deere 2350 in Mesquite country for years. If you have ever seen those thorns you could use them for nails if needed. Only recourse was sealant in the tires.

starmac
11-19-2016, 12:25 AM
Most everybody I know has the atv dealer replace the tires with real ones before it ever leaves the dealer, so they never know if they leak or not.

mold maker
11-19-2016, 01:58 PM
Today My son was going to gather leaves with his old mower and vac. Tires were flat and he added slime. The air cracked tires looked like chia pets as the slime found all those holes.
BTW The leaves are still covering the lawn, and the tires are still flat.

DougGuy
11-19-2016, 02:22 PM
It's China Tire Syndrome! They leak but you CANNOT find the leak even if you submerge the whole wheel in water and wait... Take the tube out, air up, put in water, NO LEAK! Put back in tire, LEAKS LIKE A SIEVE! SMDH...

GF's former BF left us a wheelbarrow and it leaked constantly. Took it all apart, no leak, did just what I described above, no leak when putting the tube in water bucket, I finally got fed up with it and replaced it with a harbor freight solid tire. They are skinnier than the regular tires, so it doesn't roll in the grass as well with a load on it, but it doesn't leak. A guy just can't win.

44man
11-19-2016, 03:47 PM
Had a tire on my 4 runner go flat, could not find it. I took it to the tire place and they fixed it for a day when it went flat again. Took it back and the tire was dry rotted. They said they would refund my money and I said NO, you worked hard, keep it. But after being nice and wanting new tires, they wanted too much. I went up town and got great tires at half. You would think they would respect a good customer. They lost me and everyone I know.